The Historical Writers’ Association (HWA) has great pleasure in revealing the 2025 Crown Awards shortlists, celebrating the best in historical writing, fiction and non-fiction, published during 2024–2025. There are three awards categories — HWA Gold Crown, HWA Non-fiction Crown, and HWA Debut Crown — and six shortlisted books in each category. The books shortlisted for […]
Spycraft by Nadine Akkerman and Pete Langman
Early modern Europe was a hotbed of espionage, where spies, spy-catchers, and conspirators pitted their wits against each other in deadly games of hide and seek. Theirs was a dangerous trade–only those who mastered the latest techniques would survive. This book explores the methods spies actually used in the period, including disguises, invisible inks, and […]
Rebuilding St Peter’s in Renaissance Rome
Richard Kurti writes about the inspiration behind his Basilica Diaries thriller series, set in Renaissance Rome at the time of the rebuilding of St Peter’s Basilica. He finds contemporary echoes, some unexpected… It was extraordinary to witness. Even in the tech-driven 21st century, with 10,000 satellites circling the Earth and information flowing between eight billion […]
Historical books for summer reading, 2025
We asked five well-loved authors to each suggest a couple of books they recommend for history lovers to enjoy reading over the summer. Their choices include novels about the eve of the Roman Conquest and the eve of the Norman one; non-fiction about the long history of Black people in Britain and the island’s first […]
Sinners by Elizabeth Fremantle
In 16th-century Rome, Beatrice Cenci – youngest daughter of a powerful nobleman – is destined for a life of gilded insignificance. Wealth talks within the city’s grand palazzos, and women must remain silent. Then her brother is found murdered by a rival family, and Beatice’s domineering, tyrannical father insists they flee to La Rocca. But […]
Carnival of Lies by DV Bishop
Venice in the winter of 1539. When Cesare Aldo learns of a conspiracy to assassinate Duke Cosimo de’ Medici, he is hired to protect the ruler of Florence – with his life, if necessary. The deadly attack that follows leads to bodies, bloodshed… and something far more dangerous. Those behind the plot obtain a journal […]
Carnival of Chaos by Richard Kurti
1508, Rome; an abandoned ship is drifting in the mouth of the Tiber and a horrific discovery is found inside. Nearly 300 men were packed together in the hold. All of them are dead. They were migrant workers shipped over from North Africa, cheap labour to cut the cost of building St Peter’s Basilica, and […]
The Darkening Globe by Naomi Kelsey
In 1597 when Beatrice’s husband returns to London from exploring the New World, he comes home with unexpected company: a mysterious woman, and an enormous painted globe. As Hugh refuses to explain who their female guest is, Beatrice’s foreboding grows. The unwieldy globe now strikes her as sinister – a reminder of the world of […]